Biteback

While we wait for Sir Craig Oliver's first book, publisher, broadcaster and former Conservative candidate Iain Dale is less than agog.

"You may have seen I’ve signed a deal with Hodder. Hope all well.” That was a text message I received from Craig Oliver, David Cameron’s former Director of Communications, earlier this week. I hadn’t actually seen that news, so it came as a bit of a surprise to say the least. Two or three weeks ago I had texted Craig to ask if he was thinking of writing a book and we subsequently met for an hour to discuss it. The meeting seemed to go well and I liked his approach. We agreed to talk again soon. I texted him a week later to ask if he had had further thoughts. “Let’s talk more when things settle,” came the reply. Ten days later he had signed up with a literary agent and done a deal with Hodder & Stoughton. Quick work and the best of luck to him with what I am sure will be an excellent book. But this experience has taught me several lessons. I will leave it to you to decide what they are.